“Creak~ creak~”
Ning Yuzhou and Wen Qiao turned at the same time and looked at the demon rabbit, who had somehow bitten onto that section of Stone-Gold Python Vine and was grinding its teeth on it. The piercing creaking sound was truly unbearable.
“Wen Tutu, stop biting it. Be careful of your teeth.”
The demon rabbit looked up at her and flashed its two large front teeth, proving that its rabbit teeth were still perfectly fine.
Looking at the section of Stone-Gold Python Vine it had used to grind its teeth, there was a very obvious tooth mark left behind. This showed just how terrifying the bite force of this mutated demon rabbit was. After all, this section of Stone-Gold Python Vine had already been raised by Wen Qiao to the seventh rank, making it even harder than before.
Ning Yuzhou picked up Wen Tutu and checked its teeth. Satisfied, he said, “Not bad. It seems the spirit pills it has eaten lately weren’t wasted.”
Wen Qiao paused, then quickly reacted and asked happily, “Has Wen Tutu’s strength increased?”
Back in Lin Tai Hunting Valley, Wen Tutu had only been a sixth-rank mutated demon rabbit. During this time with them, aside from eating spirit pills, it had not seemed to do much. Add to that its extremely deceptive appearance, and Wen Qiao had not noticed that, without anyone realising, Wen Tutu had actually advanced.
If it had not advanced, how could it bite through seventh-rank Stone-Gold Python Vine?
Ning Yuzhou nodded and confirmed, “It has eaten quite a lot of spirit pills during this period, and it dares to eat anything. Fortunately, demon beasts’ physiques are different from human cultivators’. They are stronger and have much better digestion. No matter how many spirit pills they eat, they won’t accumulate pill toxins in their bodies like human cultivators do. Besides, this rabbit is a mutated demon beast. It is already stronger than ordinary demon beasts. After eating so many spirit pills, even piling them up would have pushed its strength up a level.”
So now, Wen Tutu was already a seventh-rank demon beast, equivalent to a cultivator at the Yuan Void Realm.
Wen Qiao looked amazed. She lifted Wen Tutu up and examined it for a while, then said, “So that’s how it is. Wen Tutu, you’re really amazing.”
The demon rabbit whimpered at her a few times, looking adorable.
“You have to thank Brother. If your brother hadn’t worked hard refining pills and feeding you during this time, you wouldn’t have advanced so quickly. You must properly thank Brother, understand?” Wen Qiao said seriously.
Wen Tutu cooed a few times, then jumped in front of Ning Yuzhou and lay down there.
Ning Yuzhou: “What is it doing?”
Wen Qiao: “Uh, it’s letting you pet it however you like. That counts as thanks for your spirit pills.”
Ning Yuzhou nearly failed to maintain the smile on his face. He curled his finger and flicked the demon rabbit on the forehead, saying in an especially gentle tone, “You ate so many of my spirit pills and think letting me pet your fur once will settle it? That won’t do.”
Wen Tutu flipped over, exposing its fluffy belly, and looked at him pitifully.
“Turning over won’t help either.”
Wen Tutu was at a loss and could only look at Wen Qiao.
Wen Qiao looked helpless. “Those spirit pills were refined by your brother. Looking at me won’t help. I can’t help you.”
Being petted and acting cute were both useless. This was truly difficult for a rabbit.
Wen Tutu rummaged in its cheek pouch, took out a spirit pill, and reluctantly handed it over.
Ning Yuzhou still refused, and even looked very disgusted. “I refined that spirit pill in the first place. What’s the point of using it as a favour? Besides… you took it out of your mouth. How dirty.” Then he warned Wen Qiao seriously, “You are not allowed to eat spirit pills taken out of its mouth.”
Wen Qiao obediently promised, “I know. Brother, don’t worry.”
Ning Yuzhou: “…Can you not call me Brother?” It gave him a strange feeling.
“All right, Brother. I understand, Brother.”
Ning Yuzhou: “…………”
Looking at his little wife playing with the demon rabbit again, Ning Yuzhou could not help sighing. He discovered that ever since she successfully transformed into her demon body, his little wife’s personality had changed quite a bit.
When they had first met, she had been pale and thin, her expression cool and distant. She looked calm and steady, but in truth, she had been polite and detached.
After they married, she had seemed obedient and simple. But because she carried secrets, every action of hers still kept strictly to her place. She was neither curious nor asked too many questions, quietly nesting in a corner with an old and steady manner.
Perhaps because she had died once, was no longer troubled by fire poison, and had her demon body release her true nature, she had become much more cheerful. Now she looked like a simple, cute, obedient little girl… Mm, with a bit too much strength. Quite good.
In the end, Ning Yuzhou told the demon rabbit that if it still wanted to eat spirit pills in the future, it had to behave. Otherwise, he would confiscate its spirit pills.
Spirit pills and the little seedling were Wen Tutu’s favourites. Wen Tutu promised it would behave and absolutely would not do anything to make the alchemist angry.
As for its promise, Ning Yuzhou neither agreed nor disagreed.
Back then, he had brought the demon rabbit out of Lin Tai Hunting Valley partly because it was a rare mutated demon beast, and partly because its strength was decent. It could be considered taking in a battle-capable demon pet to help in fights in the future.
However, he had not forgotten that the demon rabbit coveted Wen Qiao’s demon body.
After that, Ning Yuzhou continued what Wen Tutu had interrupted earlier. He pulled over Wen Qiao’s hand, first measured her arm length, then tested her arm strength. After collecting the data, Ning Yuzhou took a vine as thick as an arm from the Stone-Gold Python Vine in the space and refined a long whip for Wen Qiao.
By the time they arrived at Lin Tai Mountain, the whip had also been completed.
The whip was eight feet long, stone-gold from end to end, and was a mystic-rank medium-grade spiritual weapon.
Wen Qiao tested it and found it extremely handy. Then she lashed the long whip out. It moved like a python beast rushing forward, its serpentine shadow arriving in a flash, making it impossible to defend against.
After testing the whip in the space, Wen Qiao brought Wen Tutu in to spar with her. When she came out, she said with great delight, “This whip is very easy to use. It suits me perfectly. Thank you. Brother is really amazing.”
Ning Yuzhou coughed lightly, hiding the strange feeling brought on by that “Brother,” and said gently, “As long as you like it. The Stone-Gold Python Vine’s rank is quite high, and with my current ability, I can only refine a mystic-rank medium-grade spiritual weapon. In the future, when my cultivation is higher, I’ll refine an even better one for you.”
“It’s already very good. Thank you.” Wen Qiao smiled at him, shallow dimples appearing on her cheeks.
Wen Qiao named the whip Stone-Gold Python Whip.
—
After arriving at Lin Tai Mountain, Wen Qiao once again turned into a little seedling and rooted herself in the flowerpot.
Ning Yuzhou came out of the demon beast carriage holding the pot planted with the little seedling and looked toward Lin Tai Mountain ahead.
Lin Tai Mountain stretched on for countless miles, like a natural barrier separating Dongling from the outside world. If Dongling’s cultivators wanted to go to the outside world, they first had to cross Lin Tai Mountain.
Now, the heavy fog over Lin Tai Mountain had dispersed, revealing its true appearance. The towering peaks rose into the clouds, surrounded by mist. Without some cultivation, it would not be easy to climb over those mountains.
However, some of Dongling’s clans with deeper foundations knew that within Lin Tai Mountain, there was a shortcut leading to the outside world. When Ning Yuzhou decided to leave Dongling, Emperor Chenghao had told him about this shortcut, saving him from spending more time crossing Lin Tai Mountain.
After all, no one knew how many powerful demon beasts lived within Lin Tai Mountain. One careless step could cost a life. Before one had the strength to contend with them, it was best not to try crossing Lin Tai Mountain directly.
After putting the demon beast carriage into a storage bag, Ning Yuzhou leapt onto the back of a Swift Wind Beast. He held a flowerpot in his hands, with a demon rabbit crouched on his shoulder. The group of twenty or so people rushed toward Lin Tai Mountain.
The Swift Wind Beasts’ hooves struck the mountain road with dull thuds, their momentum like a rainbow. Some low-rank demon beasts in the mountain fled as soon as they heard them coming.
—
Three days later, they arrived at a dangerous natural pass within Lin Tai Mountain.
Disguised as a little seedling, Wen Qiao extended her divine sense and carefully avoided Qian Shou, probing the surroundings.
“Roar—!”
A deafening roar rang out. A Vajra Ape rushed out from the nearby forest, beating its chest. A pair of golden beast eyes stared coldly at them, flashing with bestial hunger. It had already taken them for food.
The Shadow Scaled Guards quickly formed a battle formation, protecting Ning Yuzhou behind them. Qian Shou tightened his grip on his sword.
This was a sixth-rank Vajra Ape. Its fur was reddish-gold, each strand like a steel thorn, incomparably hard. Vajra Apes were metal-attribute demon beasts. Ordinary spiritual weapons could not injure even a single hair on them. Coupled with their immense strength, cultivators who encountered them found them extremely difficult to kill.
The Vajra Ape roared and charged over. The Shadow Scaled Guards took advantage of the momentum to trap it in the formation. Sword lights flashed one after another, wearing down its strength.
The Vajra Ape rampaged inside the formation, its strong body allowing it to avoid the damage from spiritual weapons. If not for the formation blocking it, it would have been impossible for the Shadow Scaled Guards to restrain it.
Qian Shou and Ning Yuzhou stood to one side, watching the Shadow Scaled Guards fight, with no intention of intervening.
“Roar—!”
Another roar came from the distance. Qian Shou’s expression changed. He looked toward the sound and saw another Vajra Ape rushing out of the forest, roaring as it charged toward them.
This Vajra Ape had two tufts of red fur on its ears, especially eye-catching among its golden fur.
This was a female Vajra Ape.
Ning Yuzhou understood at once. These two Vajra Apes were likely a newly paired couple, and it happened to be the period when the female was nurturing offspring. To ensure the female Vajra Ape could give birth to healthy and strong offspring, they needed more powerful food.
When Ning Yuzhou and the others entered this place, the two Vajra Apes had set their sights on them. After all, for demon beasts, the flesh and blood of cultivators was also food rich in power.
If there had only been one Vajra Ape, they could have handled it. But now two had appeared together…
Qian Shou had already prepared for a bloody battle.
The female Vajra Ape was extremely fast. Seeing it charge over, the Shadow Scaled Guards had no choice but to open their formation again, drawing both Vajra Apes into it. They struggled somewhat to deal with them, and the primordial spiritual energy in their bodies was being consumed rapidly.
Qian Shou guarded Ning Yuzhou, his brows slightly furrowed.
Finally, the Shadow Scaled Guards’ formation was violently broken by the two Vajra Apes. Just as the Shadow Scaled Guards were about to be injured, a white shadow suddenly flashed past. The male Vajra Ape let out a sharp cry and rolled to the side.
The female Vajra Ape seemed a little stunned. Then she too began to roll, her heavy body tumbling all the way to a spiritual tree before finally stopping.
The Shadow Scaled Guards looked over and discovered that it was the demon rabbit that had acted.
Wen Tutu pounced toward the two Vajra Apes, punching and kicking them, sending them flying dozens of zhang like balls. The two Vajra Apes screamed miserably. Their golden fur flew everywhere, falling to the ground with clinking sounds.
The Shadow Scaled Guards gasped.
Vajra Apes were metal-attribute demon beasts. Their fur was the embodiment of all their metal power, as hard as metal. Yet now, under Wen Tutu’s furry paws, that golden bristle hair was like ordinary fur, easily plucked and scratched off. Those two very cute rabbit paws were like hair-shaving blades when they pulled out fur.
Seeing that the Vajra Apes were being beaten badly by Wen Tutu, the Shadow Scaled Guards quickly formed their battle formation again, trapping the two Vajra Apes inside once more and working together to kill them.
Seeing that the Vajra Apes no longer posed a threat, Wen Tutu ignored them and returned to Ning Yuzhou’s side.
It had just leapt over happily when it suddenly discovered that the little seedling was gone. It began searching around Ning Yuzhou.
Where was the little seedling? Had the little seedling been sent to that place with lots of spiritual herbs again? Why had they not brought it along?
Ning Yuzhou ignored the demon rabbit looking everywhere for the seedling and stood there calmly, watching the Shadow Scaled Guards fight the Vajra Apes.
Not long after, the Shadow Scaled Guards finally killed the two Vajra Apes.
The air was filled with the smell of blood.
The Shadow Scaled Guards quickly put away the corpses of the two Vajra Apes and scattered some powder around to cover the smell of blood, lest it attract even stronger demon beasts.
A smile appeared on Qian Shou’s face. These Shadow Scaled Guards were his subordinates, and they were also ones he had spent great effort training according to the method Ning Yuzhou had given him. Naturally, he did not want to lose any of them. It was best if they could all remain whole and unharmed.
He turned to look at the demon rabbit, amazement appearing in his eyes.
This mutated demon rabbit was even more powerful than when they had seen it in Lin Tai Hunting Valley. Even sixth-rank Vajra Apes were no match for it. It had probably eaten no small number of spirit pills recently and successfully advanced to seventh rank.
Seeing that the Shadow Scaled Guards had finished reorganising, Ning Yuzhou said, “Continue onward.”
Wen Tutu was still looking for the little seedling. Seeing that they were about to leave, it hurriedly jumped onto Ning Yuzhou’s shoulder and whimpered at him.
Ning Yuzhou remained unmoved.
Seeing the demon rabbit’s anxious appearance, Qian Shou could not help asking, “Young Master, is it looking for that spiritual grass?”
When travelling outside, the Shadow Scaled Guards no longer called Ning Yuzhou “Your Highness,” but changed to “Young Master,” to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and trouble.
Ning Yuzhou gave a faint hum and did not explain where the little seedling in the flowerpot had gone. Naturally, Qian Shou would not tactlessly ask.
Qian Shou naturally recognised that the little seedling Ning Yuzhou had held in the flowerpot these past few days was the very one they had brought out of Lin Tai Hunting Valley—the one dug away from the demon rabbit. The demon rabbit treasured it greatly. For that little seedling, it had even chased after them and left Lin Tai Hunting Valley. Its love could be considered very deep.
After that, they continued trekking through the mountains.
Wen Tutu discovered that the little seedling had not appeared all this time, and the whole rabbit became listless. Only spirit pills could occasionally revive its spirits.
Like this, another two days passed before they arrived at a narrow crevice hidden among towering mountains. Its location was extremely concealed and very difficult to discover. There were also formations around it to disguise it, clearly set up by humans.
This was the shortcut from Dongling to beyond Lin Tai Mountain.
Ning Yuzhou examined the formation and discovered that it had been touched recently. A thoughtful look flashed through his eyes.
Recently, disciples from some family who knew this shortcut must have used it to leave Dongling. The only ones who knew of this shortcut were the Ning clan and the four great families. As for whether second- or third-rate families knew of it, that would depend on their own ability.
Ning Yuzhou casually reinforced the somewhat loosened formation and had everyone rest.
The Shadow Scaled Guards guarded the surroundings, splitting into two groups. One group meditated to replenish their primordial spiritual energy, while the other kept watch.
Ning Yuzhou sat on a tree stump and handed a spirit pill to the listless Wen Tutu.
Wen Tutu accepted the spirit pill and was just about to stuff it into its mouth when its ears suddenly stood upright. Its head turned, looking not far away.
Qian Shou thought another powerful demon beast had appeared and instantly became alert. He released his divine sense and stared at the place the demon rabbit was looking.
Under Qian Shou’s vigilant gaze, the dense trees ahead were pushed aside by a hand, and a dishevelled young girl jumped out.
**Volume Two: The Five Cities Pill Conference**
Leave a Reply